With exams week coming to a close (I had no exams so it was really just an extended moment of bliss before lectures start back up) I've been taking things nice and easy while I still can. Namely indulging in games and films before my time is gunna be taken up with reading.

Life of Pi

First up was a trip to see Life of Pi with my girlfriend on our one year anniversary/end of her exams celebration (a very nice evening!!). I read the book last summer and it's stuck with me ever since. I wondered how Ang Lee would go about adapting it to the big screen and I must say he did a remarkable job. Upon first reflection it seems like a very hard adaptation, but with the use of some stunning CG he's realized a story that so many have come to love.

With as captivating a lead as Richard Parker, you might argue that the lots of the appeal has been drummed up for you but the cinematography and simple vision of this affirming tale cements it as more than just a CGI extravaganza.

Max Payne 3

Max Payne may well represent a key moment in my gaming career so far; that of the first Rockstar game I will ever finish! I've dabbled with GTA games in the past only to get burnt out and have been meaning to get back to Red Dead for years now but the condensed and story driven Max Payne 3 may finally take that title. I've not played either of the first game, nor seen what I've been told is an abomination of a film adaptation featuring Marky Mark.

Jumping in to this one I've found a gem that sure as hell didn't get enough attention last year. Only on Chapter 4 out of 14 so far but I'm loving the style. Turns out, I'm kind of terrible at it. I've probably been spoiled from all of these games with regenerative health but I find myself dying pretty often. I've decided to start over on Easy so I can just play through for the story which is mostly what I'm interested in. Plus it means I'll be able to finish this, and Spec Ops: The Line before Ni No Kuni graces my PS3's disk drive.

Drive

I've been meaning to watch Drive for over a year now. I've had the bluray in my collection for a long, long time and finally got around to watching it. It's a stylish, crime film with Gossle Wossle and Carey Mulligan so it's right up my street and I'm 100% glad I finally saw it. Everyone I know (except for a friend who went in thinking it was like Fast and the Furious) have loved it so I had high hopes. For the most part it didn't disappoint. I had a great time watching it, even if it was bizarre seeing Ron Perlman not in his Hellboy get-up.

Sure I felt it tried to hard at times and I had a few issues with Gosling's performance but I think that was largely from what I brought to it. All the way through he reminded me uncannily of John Grady Cole from Cormac McCarthy's 'All the Pretty Horses', but his strong, silent demeanor was belittled by the sensitive soul within, a conflict between which at times made him come across more like Lars than Driver.

The Town

In comparison, earlier in the week I checked another film off my ever growing and rarely diminishing must watch list and that was Ben Affleck's The Town. Having watched Argo when it came out earlier this year and been really impressed, it felt like the right time to return to Affleck's earlier effort. I found it to the equal of Drive in every way. Gripping, smart and not overdone, it was a fantastic heist movie that actually spent time building out it's cast of characters, something heist films struggle with from time to time.

I'm certainly a fan of Affleck's directorial style and I find myself warming to him as an actor despite his overwhelming smugness. I think I'm going to have to give Gone Baby Gone a look, a film I'd never even heard off before a cursory IMDB search the other day. More to look forward to! Tomorrow I'll be starting back at lectures and uni, while I'm starting working at the campus bookshop again on Tuesday so it's gunna be busy, busy, busy for the next two weeks. Hopefully will still find some time for relaxation though.

With the start of a new year, I've decided it's about time I keep a (semi) regular blog. I've tried in the past but hopefully this one should have a bit more success. I write for a website called www.unleashthefanboy.com, so occasionally updates are going to be links to articles I write for that site (I'm not allowed to double post). I can't promise what I'm going to be writing about, because it's mostly going to be about whatever I'm indulging in at the time.

Might as well start a post of 1 Jan with some New Year's resolutions. The first of which is keeping a blog, so I'm doing well so far!

1) Keep a blog

This has been something I've meant to do for a long time, and I thought there's no better place to start than on MyIGN. There are some great people here and it seems like a community that I'd like to be a part of. As a visitor to the site since 2004 (started due to episode 19 of Gamescoop!) IGN has been the home to a lot of news and entertainment over the years, so it feels fitting to have a home here.

2) Finish the first draft of a book

I say that I've started writing a book, but with only 4500 words written down I feel like that's kind of false claim. The first draft won't be anything special and I'm expecting to rework, edit or entirely scrap large portions of what I write, but I'd like to at least see if I can do this. Heck, I've wanted to be an author since I was about 6 years old and I couldn't let go of my collection of Roald Dahl stories. I'm going to try to write a little bit each day, or at least 4 days a week. By constantly writing to it, I'm hoping it'll shape up before my eyes without feeling like a herculean effort.

3) Learn Spanish

Since meeting my Spanish girlfriend Lisa roughly a year ago (in 10 days), I've been meddling with the heathen tongue and trying to roll my R's with little success. In the last month or so thanks to an amazing iPhone app called Mind Snacks, my vocabulary has really come along and I'd love to carry this on and take it further. Seriously, Mind Snacks is amazing. The best possible way to keep me interested in learning a language is turning it into a video game.

4) Pass 2nd year of University with a 2.1 or above

In about a week I'll be starting the 2nd term of my 2nd year at uni, the first year that actually counts towards my final grade. In the run up to Christmas I handed in my first two summative (important) essays so will be interesting to see what mark I get back for those. I'm cautiously optimistic and am hoping for a 2.1. I would love to achieve a 1st for this year, but being realistic with how Uni has gone so far I'm aiming for a solid 2.1.

Whether I complete these or not, this year looks like it's going to be an amazing one so I can't wait to get started. Today's already a pretty nice relaxing day; reading The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, watching some Dota G-League and generally slothing about at my girlfriend's house. Will check in again soon, see ya around folks!